The shadow of Equestria
by Rasn
Summary: Starting a year before the events of the first episode, this is the story of princess Celestias secret agent of the dark, sent to identify and eventually protect the elements of harmony, all while fighting the evils so pure that not even the elements have any effect on them. His name is Crimson sky, and he is the Shadow of Equestria.
1. And so it begins

**Chapter 1: And so it begins**

The light blue unicorn hurriedly ran through the corridors, hearing his faithful followers far behind him fighting to hold off the Royal guard.  
"Damn them, damn them all to oblivion" He muttered to himself while tearing of his dark garments. He had known that the guards were on to him, known that they would barge in to arrest them.  
But they had been prepared; they had barricaded the gates and put guards up ready to ambush them. And the ceremony would call fourth an entity from beyond even princess Celestias knowledge, an entity that would bring an end to this world.  
And it had gone so well too. The captured mare had easily been drugged and placed upon the altar, the ritual had gone through flawlessly and was just about to finish with her death that would end it all when **IT** had showed up. Whoever or whatever it was he had showed up right behind the high priest as if out of nowhere and stabbed a black sword right through his heart, effectively stopping the ritual.  
_It cannot have been… It is just a story. _He thought to himself. But he had stood there, blood covering the dark blade he held in his right hoof and with that mask… Oh that mask, resembling a unicorn skull with two blood red rubies as eyes. For a moment they just stood there, in terror while watching him as he stared back at them.  
"K-k-kill him! We must complete the ritual" The cult leader had shouted to his followers and they had obeyed. Or, they had tried to… **IT** tore through them like a tornado, effectively separating them from the bound mare, still trapped in her drug-induced haze. Then, the guard had broken through, ending all hope for the apocalypse.  
The unicorn leader were no fighter, he had a silver tongue and the charismatic spell to make lesser ponies follow him unquestionably. But he was no fighter, and so he ran. The last thing he noticed from the chaos was that **IT **was gone, disappeared just like he had appeared.  
He had taken one of the many hidden passages the building held and successfully escaped, abandoning the other cult followers to their fate.  
"Doesn't matter, I'll rebuild. I'll get new followers, and next time, we will be more careful, acting out from the shadows, we will **BE** shadows. And all of Equestria, along with the rest of the world, will burn."  
Still he could not help but feel bitter anger over this utter and complete loss. With this, every cell in the cult had been crushed, like a poison slowly killing a tumor. The guard had been busy, choking out their hidden outposts and desert enclaves.  
But that did not matter anymore, he had learned his lesson and would return stronger for it.  
_Heh, in a way I should be thanking them. After all, how much of a victory will it be if it is not earned through hard work and dedication?_ He chuckled to himself as he reached the exit. Freedom, Safety, once he's in the streets of Canterlot, nopony will recognize him without his gown. He-  
He never noticed the cold metal on his throat, never noticed how it sliced ever so gracefully, making his life, in the shape of blood spill out of the open wound. The last thing his eyes could see was the light from the busy streets of Canterlot, just a few steps away, before he became one with the darkness, and only the silence remained.  
The mysterious pony with the mask cleaned the blood off the blade before letting it silently sheathe back into its handle and putting it back in his belt.  
"Be at peace Gloomy Ember, you poor unfortunate soul. May you find the love your life never gave you in the Evergreen Meadows."  
With that, the mysterious pony closed the unicorn's eyes and then simply vanished like the shadows that were his namesake.

In Canterlot castle, princess Celestia sat in her study with her prized star pupil Twilight Sparkle and discussed modern Equestrian myths.  
"Princess, what about the Shadow of Equestria? The mysterious unicorn in the darkness killing and abducting ponies all over the land. There are some who says he only targets criminals though, but-"  
"And where would he find these criminals my student? Unless my own guard is lying to me, there is not nearly enough crime in Equestria to make a pony like that necessary. Besides, there is no evidence to support this myth."  
Twilight Sparkle blushed slightly for not thinking of this. "I know princess, I just thought that some myths always have a small corn of truth in them so-" Here, Twilight was interrupted by a knocking.  
The door opened and the Royal guard on duty poked his head in.  
"Forgive me your majesty, but you asked to tell you when captain Shining Armour got back and to let him in immediately."  
Celestia nodded. "Yes, please show him in." Then she turned to Twilight. "I'm sorry Twilight, but we will have to continue this some other day. I need to speak to your brother in private."  
The princess's star pupil immediately got up and bowed.  
"Of course your majesty, but umm…" She hesitated. "Could I wait outside? It's been so long since I got to see my brother and-"  
Celestia gave a light chuckle. "But of course Twilight, so long as you do not try to eavesdrop on us, it will be fine."  
Twilight's blush got even bigger at this but before she could answer the door opened and the captain of the guard stepped in.  
"Well, if it isn't my favorite little sister." He smiled.  
"Shining!" Twilight ran up to him giving him the biggest hug she could.  
"Mmmm, I've missed you too Twiley, could I just get a word with the princess and then I got the entire day with you."  
"Okay BBBFF!" Twilight happily ran out the door before the guard on duty closed it behind her.  
When Shining Armour turned to face his princess his smile quickly faded and changed into the stoic expression that was the trademark of the royal guard.  
"Your majesty" He gave a bow.  
"Please captain, at ease, how did the raid go? Is the threat gone?"  
Shining stood and took a more comfortable stance.  
"The cult has finally been crushed, without any losses on our side, but the cultists…" Here, the captain was not sure how to continue, he knew how much the princess valued life, even that of her foes.  
Celestia on the other hoof had already prepared herself for the worst. "It is alright captain, just give me the numbers."  
Shining straightened his pose and looked right at her. "We captured most of them, forty-five to be precise, but when we arrived, there were already twelve dead, including their high priest. I'm afraid the leader managed to get away though."  
To this Celestia gave a long sigh. "So much pointless death."  
"Your majesty, permission to speak freely?" Celestia only gave a nod.  
"Was it truly necessary to send **him** ahead? He only leaves death in his wake and could have compromised the entire mission, not to mention the leader got warned and left before we managed to barge through the gates."  
Before the alicorn princess could answer though, they heard a dark, quit voice, almost like a whisper. "He did not get away captain, he lies dead in one of their secret passages. I believe one of your guards must have found him by now."  
With the voice, the shadow of Equestria himself appeared. A unicorn with a skull mask made out of metal stepped out of the dark corner next to the balcony entrance. His colour and cutie mark were concealed by an ancient black and dark purple uniform that had been worn by the night guard before the rise and fall of nightmare moon almost a thousand years ago. The hooves were covered with black boots of specially made leather that gave off no sound no matter where the owner stepped. It was completed with a black hood covering the head until it connected with the mask and a belt containing a sword handle, a few odd looking cylinders, a pouch and a bolt quiver for his hidden hoof-mounted miniature crossbow attached to his left hoof. He placed himself next to the captain and gave a quick bow to the princess.  
"The mission was a success your majesty."  
Shining Armour let out a growl-like sound. "Shadow…" The name gave a bitter taste in his mouth, this agent of Celestia seemed to always make his mood go down.  
"Your actions today go against the laws of a royal guard, we must not use lethal force unless in wartime or when we have no other choice! And the leader was to be taken alive, not dead!"  
Shadow slowly turned to Shining and let his blood-red artificial eyes stare into his for a moment before answering.  
"The leader was killed for he could never be held in a dungeon, he is too smart to be contained."  
"That's not certain. We-"  
"He could, and would escape. And then he would be free to make another cult, destroy more lives and possibly succeed in his ending ritual, thus destroying us all."  
"But that does not justify you rushing in to kill twelve of them and warning them of our raid. You were just supposed to be there as support, not take things into your own hooves!" Shining Armour's face was practically red at this point, if he did not know better, Shadow would think that his nostrils would start blowing steam. That thought made a huge smile creep across his face. Thank the shadows for his mask.  
"Your ignorance and carelessness almost cost us victory today, and the cultist members you killed, they were only being controlled by the leader and the high priest through an advanced mind-control spell. In fact, it was you that told us so!"  
The smaller stallion stayed silent through the entire lecture, only giving a light chuckle when he was finished.  
"Necessary sacrifices for the greater good…"  
Shining stared at him in shock, disgust and anger at this. But before he could continue, Celestia spoke.  
"Enough! I too believe that Shadow went too far this time, but what done is done, we cannot change the past. And I would have a word with Shadow alone captain, if you would?"  
Shining forced himself to calm down but hesitated to give an answer.  
"He will be punished for his actions captain, rest assured."  
This seemed to satisfy the guard captain, he gave a bow and turned to walk out the door, stopping momentarily to calm down and force a smile on his face.  
Shadow watched in silence as he got out and they heard a happy squeal before the door was closed yet again.  
"Shouldn't she be sent to _"_make friends_"_ soon? The longer you wait, the longer-" He turned back to the royal alicorn that stared at him with an even worse anger than the one Shining had felt.  
_Here we go again._ He thought as he calmly looked back.  
"Necessary sacrifices? **Necessary sacrifices!? **Twelve lives, Sky. Twelve ponies whose families will never get to see them again! I can't believe you would just say that to justify such murders, this is unacceptable Sky, I should-"  
"If you had let me continue with the good captain, you would have heard my reason for interfering. The guard was too slow, had I not interrupted the ceremony by killing the high priest, the mare would have been impaled on the dagger and you would have had to deal with an ending world right now. And the cultists I killed? Had I simply left with the mare afterwards, the guard would have walked into an ambush and been slaughtered. And then you would have to explain to your precious student why she would never get to see her _"_BBBFF_"_ again."  
"**SILENCE!**" Celestia did not use her royal Canterlot voice often, but when she did, it was enough to make even a dragon shiver in fear. Oh, and it did not help when her eyes started glowing white and her very mane seemed to be on fire from the anger she felt.  
**"You will not bring Twilight into this, she has enough ahead of her as it is. And your actions cannot be justified like that, you are still a murderer, a sickening, disgusting-"**  
So far the shadow had simply stared back at the princess defiantly, rage slowly building up inside of him until he snapped.  
"YES! I am a murderer, a killer and a monster! But not by choice Celestia, because it was YOU that made me into what I am. It was YOU who needed an agent of the dark. Someone to handle everything you, your guard and eventually the elements of harmony cannot handle. And you knew that this required evils to be committed in small enough doses. You KNEW what was to become of me!"  
This was very unusual for him, he was usually always calm and emotionless no matter what, so this sudden outburst made the princess take a few step back in shock. It seemed to calm her down a bit as well, for her eyes returned to normal and the fire in her mane disappeared, like it had not been there at all.  
They looked at each other's for a moment in silence, until the shadow took a deep breath, calming himself and taking his mask and hood off. Underneath was a young stallion's face, crimson red fur with a short brown mane tied up in the back of the head as a pony-tail. (Oh irony, how I love you.) When you would first see him, you would guess him to be in his early twenties, and you would be correct. Twenty-one years of age. But if you would take a deep look into his pale, icy-blue eyes, you would see a pony that has had enough. You would see him as he was deep inside. Tired, worn out… Old…  
"I'm sorry your majesty, I was out of line. If you have a punishment for me, I will accept it without complaint." With the mask gone, his voice no longer sounded like a dark wisper, but instead had a deep and gentle tone to it.  
The princess herself let out a long sigh before answering him.  
"No sky, you are right. I should not be so angry with you for it is also my own fault that you are like you are. A mistake I hope to remedy." Her agent perked up at this.  
"So send me somewhere with no crimes Celestia, somewhere where I can relax between missions and simply be myself, believe me, it will be very good for me to relearn the values of life. Who knows? It might make me, you know, less murderous."  
Celestia gave him a suspicious look.  
"And I assume you have already determined which place you would go to?"  
"You know me too well princess, yes I have. Ponyville to be precise."  
"Sky we have talked about this, Ponyville-"  
"If Twilight sparkle is to wield the element of magic, she will need to find and befriend the rest of the bearers. My informants have already confirmed the existence of five mares in Ponyville that could very well be these bearers. Now all I need to do is go there and confirm if they are the bearers or not."  
Princess Celestia was pacing back and forth in her room while he talked.  
"That does not explain why you should remain there afterwards Sky.  
"Simple, if this works and we have the elements of harmony at our disposal, the other nations that would do us harm or evil organizations and the like would like to neutralize this threat before it becomes a problem for them. And since you will not send any guards to such a peaceful little town, it would be best if they received a secret guardian. If I go there now, I will have already established myself as a local by the time you send Twilight there, thus removing any suspicion."  
Celestia sat down in deep thought. The minutes went by as her agent stood at his place, waiting for the answer he knew she would give.  
"Fine Sky, you get as you want, we will have to begin preparations for you immediately though, I will send somepony to build you a house there and-"  
"Already taken care of that princess, the house was finished two days ago and the furnishing has already been installed. I am ready to go in a matter of days."  
This surprised Celestia. Already done?  
_Oh that clever little pony._ She thought. "Why do I get the feeling you planned for this?"  
"Because I did Celestia, I did" The stallion laughed as he walked into the shadows behind the balcony curtain, seeming to not only blend in with them, but to become one with them, before he simply vanished.


	2. You are my Sunshine

**Chapter 2: You are my Sunshine**

Before leaving the castle grounds, Crimson sky decided to once again sneak into a chamber that would always hold a special place in his heart.  
The hall of heroes... This had been his favorite place as a foal during training, when he believed that he would become just like these proud and righteous ponies whose statues filled the walls along this mighty room.  
There were so many of them, like the skillful Thunderblade, who could control the weather with his sword, despite being an Earth pony.  
And next to him stood Shining Blaze, whom had given her life to protect the young alicorn princesses when they were but small fillies.  
Dusty Arrow, with her trusty crossbow.  
Iron Will, whose gaze could make you quiver in fear.  
Glacial Virtue, Roaming Blade, Sunny Pedals, the list went on and on.  
Sky walked in silence along the rows, just as marveled as he had been the first time he was here, but with a difference.  
_I wonder if any of you were forced into your lives at such an early age as me? _He thought.  
_Did any of you have to make horrible life or death decisions? And if so, how much were you forced to sacrifice? Your lives? Anypony can do that…_  
He reached the end of the hall, where the statue of Starswirl the Bearded stood. The tutor of the alicorn princesses and the creator of the elements of Harmony.  
_The difference between you and me is that you could fight your enemies in the open, because they were known enemies, known dangers. And everypony admired you for fighting them._ He stopped to look into Starswirl's eyes.  
_While I have to fight unknown enemies in the dark, take lives in order to save some others and walk a tightrope between good and evil. _He sighed to himself. _And sometimes I must do evil to protect what is good. Work in the shadows to serve the sunlight. I have sacrificed more than any of you have, I have sacrificed my innocence and what is good in me, but where is my statue?  
_Damn it! Why does he keep going here every time he's in the castle? It always depresses him, always makes him hate not only himself, but Celestia as well for turning him into this…  
Yet the answer was obvious. It is a feeling of longing, he yearns to receive the same praise and gratitude from the ponies of today and the future just like these champions of old. He wanted the crowds to cheer when they saw him, He wished for ponies to take their young ones to his statue and say:  
"There is somepony we should never forget. One who protected us from the horrors that exist out there so that we could live in peace and safety. Remember the name Crimson Sky, for it is the name of a true hero. Someone we should all aspire to be like"  
_But that will never happen._ He thought bitterly to himself. _Because of Celestias wish to keep her subjects blissfully ignorant of the horrors that threaten them, I too, must remain a secret. And the few that does know about me… They despise me, see me as nothing but a cruel, horrible monster. Even Celestia hates me, even though she was the one who forced this onto me. If I didn't do these things, Equestria would be conquered, burned or completely obliterated a long time ago. I'm just doing what I am supposed to do, and what do I get? Only malice…_  
In the stillness of the large chamber, a single teardrop could be heard hitting the marble floor.

It was with a heavy heart the Shadow of Equestria reached the outskirts of Canterlot where his house was, getting inside through a secret hatch in the roof, leading to his hidden lair. It was a rather small room with hardly any light, the only ones coming from a few candles on the walls. Along the walls there were maps, posters and pictures. His personal investigation wall. There were also a shelf full of all manners of dyes and make up, for the times he must be somepony else. Quietly he stripped himself of his armour and mask, placing them on a unicorn male mannequin. The belt was placed on a table with the hoofbow next to it, and suddenly he was none other than good old boring Crimson Sky again.  
He was a rather handsome young stallion with a slightly masculine face, a slightly upwards curved horn and a short brown mane. Unlike most unicorns, he was rather muscular, though his muscles had not been trained for strength but for speed and agility and were thus not as visible as those of a royal guard. He was covered in a crimson red fur, which thankfully also covered his numerous scars. They would only be detectable if you got reeeealy close, like, two-lovers-in-bed-close… That was something he would have a hard time explaining to his future spouse. From his rear shot a well kept tail that he usually thought was just in the way. It was really uncomfortable hiding it inside the uniform and armour. But he could not afford that any part of him was visible, and so he had to endure. On his flanks you could see his cutie mark. A strange mark that looked like a dark blue rune from ancient times. A rune that spelt darkness and death. Oh how he despised that mark, how he loathed it. This is the reason he became the Shadow of Equestria in the first place, because Celestia had seen his mark and decided to put him to good use… Heh… Good use… She sure regretted that decision by now.  
To the outside world he used to say that it was an old rune that meant prosperity and wealth, and that it represented both his skill in the business world and his great interest in ancient history. Yep, to the outside world Crimson Sky was a young stallion that had marveled Equestria when he had built up a small business empire from nothing at the early age of twelve. At least that made sure nopony would question him being gone somewhere for days, sometimes weeks. And it gave him a small fortune to use to pay his numerous informants all over the world, not only Equestria. They were usually the first notice he would get on something that could threaten Equestria, and so they were worth every bit they got.  
Quickly he tied up his mane again and pulled a lever, making a small part of the wall open, revealing his bedroom. He then got out and pulled on another lever disguised as a lamp to make the wall close again, with no evidence of the secret rooms' existence.  
The sudden rustling from downstairs and the sound of hoofsteps as they hurried up the stairs made his heart flutter and caused a smile to creep up on his lips.  
_Heh, every time, almost as if she could feel it._ There was something special about her that always made him smile no matter what.  
The door burst open as a small gray Pegasus filly with dark blue eyes and a blonde mane ran in. Her cutie mark resembled a ray of sunshine breaking through a gray cloud.  
"Daddy!" She screamed with pure happiness.  
"Hi little Sunshine!" He replied with the biggest smile his mouth would allow.  
She ran up and they embraced for a few minutes.  
Sunshine Smiles was the daughter of Crimson Sky, just six years old but already a very smart and kind young filly. Her mother had been an unknown unicorn mare in the service of another nations spy ring. Sky had just been fifteen years old, already having served as the Shadow of Equestria for three years, and well… He needed to get information on her organization and she wanted a purebred unicorn to give her a foal… And she just happened to be really into young colts, the younger the better… the mission was a success, she had not suspected a thing, though Sky had lost his virginity in quite a horrible way and he vowed to never do such a thing again… Ten months later he had received a basket containing the most adorable little filly he had ever seen and a **really** angry letter about him not being a purebred like he had led her to believe. Whoops, guess he should have told her his mother had been a Pegasus? Oh well, it was her loss, because this little angel had given his life meaning again. He named her Sunshine Smiles because the moment he laid his eyes on her she caused him to smile for the first time since… Since his first day on the job, when he had taken his first life.  
The memories washed over him like a wave, causing his smile to fade.  
"Daddy?" The filly looked up at him, causing him to return to reality.  
"It's okay Sunshine, daddy just had a bad day at work."  
"Was princess Celestia mean to you again?" She asked with concern in her voice.  
"No Sunshine, we just got into a bit of an argument over a mission. That is all." He did his best to give her a reassuring smile to prove his point.  
It seemed to work, for her mouth broke into one of those adorable smiles he just loved so much. (Seriously, you should see that smile, not even MLP-haters could look at that withought at least smiling back.)  
"Okay dad. Now come on, I ordered dinner."  
Did I forget to mention she is responsible and very mature for her age?  
On the way down she decided to slide on the railing, using her wings for support and gave out a "WEEEEEE!" all the way down while he slowly walked after her.  
Yes. She knew of who he really was and what he did. He never told her exactly what he did but he couldn't lie to her. She was his daughter and she deserved to know, though the only thing he told her was that he was a secret agent for Celestia and that his work caused him to do a few bad things to other ponies, in order to cause good things to happen or stop even worse things from happening. She was not an idiot, she knew he did not like to talk about it, so she kept those conversations short and also knew to always keep quiet about it. Never tell anypony. To them, daddy was a businesspony.  
_What did I ever do to deserve this angel in my life?_ He thought to himself.  
These moments with her was what made his life seem so bright and happy.

At the dinner table Sky decided to ask his daughter how her day at school had been.  
"Umm… Well…" Her face reddened and she couldn't look her dad in his eyes.  
"Sunshine? Come on, you know you can tell me anything right?"  
"It's the other fillies, they tease me and bully me for not having any friends."  
Sky let out a deep sigh. Damn it, he's her father he is supposed to make sure these things do not happen.  
"I'm sorry honey, it's because I haven't been around as much as I should."  
"It's okay. They usually leave me alone, though I would like to have at least one friend to play with…"  
"Well…" He said while wiping his mouth with a napkin. "I can't help you with the making friends part, but I can give you a fresh start in a new place where everypony is just as nice as you."  
She looked up and gave him a wondering look, slightly tilting her head to the side. (Daaaaaaw If only you could see her, she is so freaking adorable)  
"Celestia has given me a new job that requires us to move to a small town called Ponyville, and if all works out, I will get to stay home a lot more than usual and you get a new start in a new school were you can make many-" He was cut of here by his daughters hooves hugging him so tight he would have been scared she would crush a rib.  
"YES! Thank you daddy! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you so much."  
This made Sky sit still for a moment, his eyes watering as tears of happiness formed. Blinking them away, he hugged her back and whispered: "I love you too Sunshine."

It was nighttime and Crimson Sky was putting his little miracle to sleep.  
"Daddy? Do you think they will like me in the new school?"  
"Of course they will my little doofus." He playfully said wile rubbing his nose with hers. "How could they not? You are the most wonderful filly in the world and I love you so, so much."  
She hugged him affectionately. "Mmmm I love you too daddy."  
He let go of her and then reached for his guitar next to her bed. He used it to sing lullabies to her and this time he chose to sing her favorite, a song he wrote while he had been away from her for three months, investigating the disappearance of some nobles in Canterlot.  
Stringing up a tune he started singing softly to lull her to sleep.  
(Link if you want to hear how I pictured the song, just pretend the girl singing is actually a guy.) watch?v=Ul9n4lfLi2c

"You are my sunshine  
My only sunshine  
You make me happy  
When skies are gray  
You'll never know dear  
How much I love you  
please don't take  
My sunshine Away

The other night dear  
when I lay sleeping  
I dreamed I held you in my hooves  
When I awoke dear  
I was mistaken  
So I hung my head and cried

You are my sunshine  
My only sunshine  
You make me happy  
When skies are gray  
You'll never know dear  
How much I love you  
Please don't take  
My sunshine away

You are my sunshine  
My only sunshine  
You make me happy  
When skies are gray  
You'll never know dear  
How much I love you  
Please don't take  
My sunshine away  
Please don't take  
My sunshine away  
Please don't take  
My sunshine away"

He stopped singing to notice that his daughter had already fallen asleep. Gently, he bent over and kissed her on the forehead.  
"Sleep tight little Sunshine. Soon, our lives are going to take a turn for the better, I promise."  
If only Sky knew what horrors awaited him, he would never have taken his daughter to Ponyville.


End file.
